


Cliches are cliches for a reason

by drowninglinguists



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, for fi mostly, i never write this ship but ayy, i wanted to try it, winks @ fi you'll never see this probably but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:51:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7326304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninglinguists/pseuds/drowninglinguists
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It was really stupid,” Yoshino says, wondering how she can both hate and love a smirk so much, “you were more important to the mission than I was.”</p><p>A thought on how a young Yoshino goes from rolling her eyes at Jounin squad captain Nara Shikaku to kissing him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cliches are cliches for a reason

There comes a point in every woman’s life where she simply cannot stand it anymore. Her patience runs out, not that Yoshino has a lot of it, and she explodes.

“ _Can I help you?_ ” She whirls around, eyes blazing. She spun so fast she stepped on his foot, but she doesn’t really care. He _deserves_ all the feet stomping she decides to give him for _following her all the time_.

“Nope,” he says, “could you get off my foot?”

He has to look down to look her in the eye, because he’s so freaking tall, and it’s pissing Yoshino off. She ought to _knee him in the groin_ so she can stand over him and he can know how it feels to have your space crowded _by a giant_.

“Can you stop stalking me?! It’s freaking me out!” He’s _still_ tall, and he’s _still_ staring at her, and it’s putting her even  more on edge now that she’s close enough to see the flecks of grey in his eyes.

“I’m not,” he claims, “I’m also not the one initiating physical contact.”

Rage bubbles in Yoshino’s chest, and with an aggravated grunt, she stomps away from him, cursing his existence and the fact that he was ever her examiner. She’d have never met him otherwise, if any of the other _several hundred_ jounin had been picked to give her test, and then his creepy stalking thing would never have started.

There’s only _so_ many times she can be expected to actually _talk to him first_ , and she’s pretty sure she’s reached her limit. Next time he was getting an elbow in the _face_. She’d have to jump to do it, but it’d be worth it. Or, she could knee him in the groin _first_ , and _then_ he’d be low enough that no jumping would be necessary. And _then_ she could–

“It’s Yoshino, right?”

She whirls around again, somehow more fiercely than last time, fists clenched and teeth grinding together. “Yes, that is my name! Crazy stalker jounin! _What do you want_?”

“I’m Shikaku,” he says, “go out with me.”

It’d take her less time, but the dumbfounded expression on her face inhibits her voice. But at last, she finds it again. _“No._ ”

–

For the next few days, Yoshino keeps remembering the _audacity_ of that man, and every time she does, it pisses her off all over again. It’s been _hard work_ being that angry all the time, so she’s been in a terrible mood. She can’t even _enjoy_ the fact that he’s fucked the fuck off, _that’s_ how pissed and slightly disturbed she is.

At least Sandaime called her in today to assign her to a mission. Getting out of the village, being able to work off some steam, would be good for her. She has plans to come back refreshed, an accomplished Chuunin with her _first_ B-rank mission under her belt, and apologize to Kushina for snapping at her so much. A few days with an _absolute guarantee_ of never running into Nara Shikaku is exactly what she needs.

Confidence building in her belly, she knocks on the Hokage’s door and announces her presence by name.

“Enter,” comes the Hokage’s voice.

Yoshino walks through the door, bowing slightly. “Reporting for duty, Hokage-sama.”

“Yes, thank you for coming, Yoshino. You’ve been requested for an intelligence-gathering mission. You really impressed one of your superiors at your Chuunin Exams, and he wants to give you a shot.”

It’s difficult to keep the grin off her face, and truthfully Yoshino completely fails.

But Sandaime smiles back, so she figures there was no great breach in protocol against smiling at the Hokage. “Here are the mission details,” he hands her a scroll, “good luck.”

She bows and takes her leave. As she runs to the gate, she indulges in the excitement pumping through her veins. Her _first_ B-rank! She impressed a superior! Finally, she was getting somewhere in her career. She was going to do great on this mission, too, hopefully earn his continued approval, and then she’d do more missions and more missions and finally be financially independent.

At the gate are two tall men, but they are both faced away from her so she cannot make out their faces. She lands next to them, just the same. “I won’t let either of you down.” She proclaims confidently. “I will do my very best to serve our village.”

“I’m sure you will,” the slightly taller turns around, dark eyes fixated on her, “nice to have you on board, Yoshino-san.”

She’s so shocked she almost drops her scroll. “ _You–”_ is all she can get out around her rage-induced sputtering.

“Let’s go,” Shikaku says, leaping off in the direction of the northwestern forest.

“How can he leave so soon?! I don’t even know where we’re going–”

“Best just to follow him, if you ask me,” the blonde man explains, offering a sympathetic shrug, “he’s been in a bad mood these past few days.”

Stowing the scroll, Yoshino nods. _This one_ , at least, seems amicable enough. The mission should be _alright_ with him as a buffer.

She can think _why_ Shikaku has been in a bad mood, or _why_ she even cares.

“So, who’re you?” She asks the blonde, once they’ve more or less caught up to Shikaku.

“Yamanaka Inoichi,” he says, offering a friendly smile, “it’s nice to meet you, Yoshino.”

“Ohhh, you guys are part of that trio thing, aren’t you?” She says as the realization hits her.

“The Ino-Shika-Chou trio,” snaps Shikaku, as though she’s an idiot for not knowing the name of his stupid little boyband.

“Not that I was _talking_ to you,” Yoshino snaps back, then looks again at Inoichi with a smile. “Chouza is in it too, right?”

“Ahh, you know Chouza?” Inoichi says at the same time Shikaku mutters, “You know _Chouza?_ ” with an altogether different inflection.

Ignoring him, Yoshino looks at Inoichi. “Yeah, we’re good friends. He showed me this barbeque place he really likes, Yakiniku Q.”

Inoichi nods, pushing off the trees with such ease that it makes Yoshino jealous for that kind of grace. “He takes us there, too.”

“How _often_ does he take you?” The anger in Shikaku’s voice is gone, or at least it’s been set on simmer, and he’s waited back to run at her side.

Raising a brow at him, but by this point she’s decided to try and get along for the sake of the mission, she shrugs. “I don’t know, every month or so?”

“Hn,” Shikaku makes a displeased sound and Yoshino only _just_ manages to hold back a snort.

He goes to speak again, but she talks over him, at least half-intentionally. “So, why am I here?”

“Chouza is sick,” Shikaku explains, “we need someone who can beat up the enemy mercilessly.”

She can’t help it. She starts laughing.

“ _That’ll_ teach you not to stalk a young woman who said no to a date with you!”

“Shikaku asked you _out?_ ” Inocihi comes in the conversation again. “And you said _no?!_ That’s why he’s–” But Inoichi’s laughter overpowers his speech, and he doubles over, clutching his abdomen, _still_ somehow with perfectly-timed steps.

“That’s why he’s _what?_ ” Yoshino asks eagerly. She _really_ was going to like Inoichi if he laughed at Shikaku’s suffering; maybe this mission would be so bad after all.

“He’s been in–” Inoichi starts to explain, but the branch in front of them explodes and it stops all their cheerful (apparently loud) discourse.

The branch shatters, splintering, and Yoshino jumps back, with her arms up to protect her face and chest. When she lands back, on a different branch, she sees that both Shikaku and Inoichi have used replacement jutsu; logs have taken their places–meaning they aren’t injured at all.

She falls back into basic academy training, ignoring her stinging arms, and jumps higher and in alternate directions to find a place to hide to assess the situation. She doesn’t bother pulling the splinters out of her arms; a little pain is nothing.

She doesn’t have to wait long to hear the sound of kunai on kunai, so she travels in that direction, concealing her presence by traveling in the canopy of the trees. Down below, on the ground, she sees Inoichi and Shikaku battling two enemy nin. Their headbands say they’re from the Village Hidden in the Grass. What they’re trying to do isn’t clear, but their killing intent _is_.

Shikaku and Inoichi are both mid to long rage types, she knows that, which is why it’s so good that Chouza is on their team. His close range techniques enable them to use theirs at an advantage. Well, she _was_ brought on this team to beat people up, as Shikaku said in his own words. She supposes she should start.

The grass nin are so focused on their opponents, jounin-level shinobi with actual reputations, that they don’t pay attention to the small chakra presence gaining up on them quickly. Her opponents _always_ underestimated her. That’s how she won her exam so easily.

Jumping off the highest branch she can get to in order to build as much gravitational force behind her kick as possible, she aims directly for the chest of one of them. Her foot connects with their sternum, she also hears a satisfying _crack_ , and then she whirls around, to use that momentum still, and kicks the other one in the side of the head.

Groaning, they both fall to the forest floor.

Yoshino jumps away, drawing a kunai of her own in case, to stand between Inoichi and Shikaku.

She waits a few seconds, but they don’t act. She looks up at the both of them, they’re both so damn _tall_ , but they’re simply looking at her with wide eyes and opened mouths. She’ll mock them for it later.

“Well, _go!_ ” She yells at the pair of them, because apparently they were too stunned by her awesome kick to think of using their techniques on their own.

“Right,” they say together, and Shikaku’s shadow slinks out and captures them both, just starting to come around. Then Inoichi walks forward, placing his hands on either of their heads. She’s never seen the legendary Yamanaka clan techniques up close before, and watching it is a treat. Inoichi is completely still, delving into their minds and extracting the information he needs. She plans to ask him about it later, what it’s like being in someone else’s mind, if it’s hard to sort through all their memories.

Since she’s in a good mood, she turns to Shikaku and flashes him a friendly smile. “I really admire his technique. It looks difficult to master.”

To her delight, Shikaku’s left eye twitches. “Yeah,” he says tightly, “but you know, my technique is hard, too.”

Theatrically, she glances at his feet, tracing the shadow to its end. Slowly, she lets her eyes land on him again, and she offers a shrug. “Two doesn’t seem that hard. _Fifty_ , maybe, would be impressive. But Inoichi is in someone’s _mind_. What’s cooler than that?”

The twitch is constant now, but she only says it because it seems like his concentration is about to break. “I’m kidding! Geez, lighten up, you’re wound too tightly. I was only saying those things because it’s so _easy_ to rile you up.” She pats his arm. “Your jutsu is cool, too.”

The twitching has at least stopped, but his expression is taking on a dumbfounded look, so she’s getting ready to explain in more detail, maybe mock him a little that the _Nara clan genius_ didn’t understand something right away, because apparently she should never wait to mock Shikaku.

She opens her mouth to speak, but Shikaku’s not looking at her anymore.

All she has time to process is his eyes widening and the impact of a nearby tree on her back. The situation forms in slow motion–the tree at her back, the hands on either side of her, his twisted expression, him coughing up blood, the shuriken in his back…

He saw that coming, and she didn’t. He could’ve gotten away, but he chose to save her instead.

Something funny settles in the pit of her stomach.

She moves out from his arms, ignoring the way he shakes his head no at her, tries to speak but only coughs up more blood, to face their opponent. It’s a kunoichi, scowling at Inoichi and what he’s doing to her comrades, and she’s drawing a shuriken to throw into Inoichi’s neck–she can just tell by the angle, the killer intent in the air. She throws it, and Yoshino feels her body act, throwing a shuriken of her own.

They collide in mid-air, and then Yoshino charges.

Inoichi is vulnerable, Shikaku is hurt, it’s up to her.

The kunoichi is about her size, about her strength, and for each blow Yoshino delivers she receives one equally as strong. To her ribs, to her side, a hard blow to the back of her knee that nearly makes her lose her balance. But taijutsu has always been her best area, so, even though it’s not advised and is more of a genin-level technique, she swings her fist, with all her power, into the stomach of her opponent.

She coughs, doubling over, and Yoshino seizes her opportunity to stick a kunai into the woman’s neck.

There’s sputtering as blood enters her lungs and she aspirates too much carbon dioxide, but Yoshino merely steps over her body. She’s a _kunoichi_ and she _will_ be emotionless in the face of this kill, this mission. Her teammates need her. Her own horror is not important.

Inoichi is still in their minds and Shikaku is still leaning against the tree, so she goes to him first. She rests her hand on his arm, waiting until their eyes connect to speak.

“I’m going to take out the shuriken. It’s going to hurt.”

He stares at her for a long moment, the labored breathing of his chest the only sound between them, before he nods.

One by one, she pulls them out, until at last, his back is free of them. “Lean on me,” she says, “while we wait for Inoichi.”

Yoshino and Shikaku stand in silence, she listens only to some birds, far away, and his breathing gradually sound better, until Inoichi comes out of it.

“You okay?” Shikaku calls in a gruff voice.

“Slight headache,” Inoichi reports, “but I’m–” His eyes happen upon the corpse of the woman in front of him, and as he turns around his eyes widen at the sight of Shikaku and Yoshino. “What did I miss?” He asks helplessly, an attempt at empty humor.

“Just get those two, our mission is over.” Yoshino says.

Despite the fact that she’s a Chuunin and he’s her superior, Inoichi does what she says.

The trek back to Konoha is slower, and no one talks much but for Shikaku and Inoichi. Yoshino doesn’t pay them mind, though, unless they say her name or anything. She hasn’t killed in a while, and it takes her a while to process her murders.

They part ways with Inoichi so he can go drop off the enemy nin to the T&I unit, a place he himself is frequently employed at, and Yoshino heads with Shikaku to the hospital, despite his protests.

“I’m _fine_ ,” he insists yet again, as they walk through the actual hospital.

“Fine, fine, you’re _fine_ ,” her tone is mocking, “then call me a worry wart and do this for me.”

“Heh,” he laughs, just a little, they both ignore his wince, “didn’t know you cared so much.”

“Of course I care, you’re my teammate.” She gives him a look, a hint of danger lurking in the sharp edges of her expression.

But he doesn’t let up. “I meant it. When you impressed me at your Exams. And again, with that kunoichi, you really were merciless.”

“I did what had to be done,” she affirms, “nothing more.”

“It was impressive,” he insists again, instead of taking her hint to stop making a big deal out of it, “for your first B-rank.”

He’s _staring_ at her again, and against her will her face is heating up.

It takes her a while to think of something to say, and when she does she can’t manage to make it sound angry.

“Just follow the med nin to your room, hotshot.”

Which is a strange thing to say, too, since he needs her help to walk, but at least it shuts him up.

After a short exam, the medical ninja insists he’ll be fine, heals the superficial wounds on his back, that luckily did _not_ hit any major arteries, and leaves the room.

And Shikaku is _staring_ at her again.

Maybe it’s because she’s confrontational, or maybe it’s because she’s curious, or maybe she’s a little too brave for her own good. But she asks him about it.

“What?”

He takes his time answering, as she grows hotter and hotter under the weight of his gaze. “We started out this mission with you hating me. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”

“No,” she says, even though she could lie, “it’s not.”

There’s more staring, that she for some reason engages in, and she thinks he’s going to get out of the bed. Panic kick starts her system, and she jumps off the opposite wall.

“I’ll check on you tomorrow,” she says before running out of the room.

She couldn’t be in there with him any longer, now that they’ve been back in Konoha long enough for her to realize her heart isn’t accelerated because of the adrenaline from her mission. And she couldn’t take the way he was looking at her.

–

“Can I help you?” asks the civilian at the desk.

Clearing her throat, Yoshino manages, “Yes, hello, I’m here to see Nara Shikaku. We were teammates on the mission he just got hurt on, and…”

The civilian waits for Yoshino to add to her sentence, but she does not, so she flashes a polite smile and moves to locate his file.

“Ah, he was already checked out this morning, by himself no less. You know jounin; they hate to stay here. I’m surprised he didn’t sneak out during the night again.”

“Again,” Yoshino echoes, but it’s too quiet. The med nin doesn’t hear her.

“What?” She asks for Yoshino to repeat herself, but Yoshino just smiles.

“Thank you.”

It’s _weird_ , this feeling in her gut. It sort of went away last night, but at the prospect of going to the hospital, of _seeing him again_ , it flared back up. And now that he’s not here, she’s disappointed. Actually, really, ruin-her-morning _disappointed_.

 _What,_ she scolds herself, _just because he takes a few shuriken for you suddenly he’s date-worthy?_

But the scolding doesn’t work. She knows that’s only a _little_ of why.

The disappointment hasn’t settled into anything more than a hard ball by the time she makes it back to her house. She might as well try to sleep some more, then later go over and apologize to Kushina. She is excited to see her friend again, tell her about her mission, _maybe_ even tell her about Shikaku, and see if Kushina can help her figure out _why_ she feels this way.

But as she approaches her house, there’s a tall figure already there.

“You found my house.” Her voice is flat, reminiscent of the way she spoke to him before the mission several days ago.

“It wasn’t hard,” he admits, pushing off the wall he was leaning against.

 _I must have just missed him_ , she thinks. He probably arrived right after she left.

“Well,” she tries, but she’s a little flustered, “what do you want? Because you’re taking up that whole stalking mantle again, and I really hoped we’d be past that after going on a mission together. And should you really be leaning against things with all those injuries to your back? You should probably still be in the hospital. Did they even clear you or did you just leave? I went to see you and you were already gone, you know–”

The deluge of words stops flowing out of her mouth, because he’s kissing her.

She has to lean so far up to kiss him that it’s a strain on her feet after only a few seconds, but once her body eases, loses its tenseness brought on by such an unexpected move, she rests her hands on his chest, tilts her head a little more to the right, and finds it’s much easier this way, anyway. She forgets all about her aching feet.

She doesn’t know how long it’s been when he stops kissing her, but her eyes take a few seconds to open and his hands are still on her face, cradling her cheeks, where he’d grabbed her so she wouldn’t move when he tried to kiss her.

“What–?” Her voice is soft, breathless with confusion and there’s a _feeling_ flowing through her chest that isn’t helping her speak normally.

“It was all I could think of to get you to stop talking.” He admits, sheepish. “But you kissed me back, so I don’t think I should apologize.”

She shakes her head _no_ , confirming that he should not apologize.

“You…” She starts, but that’s all she manages.

And then Shikaku _laughs_ at her. “Damn, I didn’t know I was such a good kisser.”

A laugh cascades out of her mouth, and she smacks his arm. “I was just _very surprised!_ ”

“But you like me,” he grins, “or else you would’ve slapped the living crap out of me.”

She takes his hands off her face, but only to hold them in her own. She nods, to indicate that he’s correct.

“So I managed to make you go from hating my guts to kissing me back in a few days, _just_ by risking my life for you.”

“It was really stupid,” Yoshino says, wondering how she can both hate _and_ love a smirk so much, “you were more important to the mission than I was.”

“You finished it anyway,” he says, “you really _were_ impressive, I mean, you’re short but you use every pound of weight you’ve got to make those kicks. And I saw you jab a kunai into her neck without even blinking, just because she _might_ be a threat to your teammates. It was incredible; _I_ still have trouble doing that–”

“Keep using yourself as the golden standard of shinobi, it’s really attractive and not at all incredibly arrogant.”

He winces. “Sorry.”

She nods, accepting the apology.

There’s even more _staring_ now, but it feels like she has the upperhand this time.

 _His_ voice is breathless when he speaks again. “Does that mean I can’t k–”

Her lips are on his, this time.


End file.
